Welcome to Swans Commentary http://www.swans.com/ August 9, 2010
* Many thanks to Walter Trkla for his generous financial contribution. *
Note from the Editors: We are profoundly saddened that Professor Tony
Judt, the director of NYU's Erich Maria Remarque Institute, passed away
on August 6, 2010, at the young age of 62. Gratefully, Louis Proyect was
able to write on very short notice a thoughtful appreciation in which he
traces the principled evolution of this British historian and
intellectual from Francophile Cold War liberal and young Zionist to a
rigorous critic of Israel, capitalism, and our materialistic culture
based on hyper-consumption. Indeed, a remarkable evolution by a
remarkable man. Tony Judt will be direly missed and we dedicate this
issue to his legacy, beginning with the tragic consequences of our
"success" in Iraq: the utter destruction of 6,000 years of culture,
completely ignored by the mainstream media but not by Gilles d'Aymery.
Traveling to Italy, Fabio De Propris deems that the visionless state of
his country can be summarized by the destruction of L'Aquila following
the 2009 earthquake and unscrupulous Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's
response, while fellow resident Karen Moller wonders why there is so
little interest in Italy's scandalous politics (perhaps because its
scandalous president owns the media?).
There's one point on which Tony Judt and Bill Clinton agree: "The modern
world, for all its blessings, is unequal, unstable, and unsustainable,"
asserted the latter. Unlike Judt, however, Clinton's response is an
imperialism-promoting philanthropy designed to shield the ruling class
from critical scrutiny, as Michael Barker explains. We are well served,
according to Michael Doliner, by applying scientific theories and
experiments to controversial issues such as evolution and global
warming, though unfortunately politics usually prevails. For a taste of
change we can believe in, Charles Marowitz pens a presidential address
that we'll likely never hear... Femi Akomolafe also has some ideas for
change, but the Ghanaian parliamentarians would be hard-pressed to
relinquish their spoils on behalf of the people -- just see how they
responded to criticism by their fellow MP, Kofi Wayo.
Turning the page to culture, Peter Byrne reviews two books on
nationalism, the Ottoman Empire, and the destruction of two Aegean
cities. Musically speaking, Isidor Saslav celebrates Bard College's
Schreker renaissance, bringing back a composer who at the beginning of
the 20th century was considered the rival of Puccini and Strauss before
being silenced for half a century. The French Corner is très poétique,
with a recipe for good living by Simone Alié-Daram, a love poem under
spring showers by Christine Spadaccini, and a clever, self-reflective
verse by Christian Cottard. In addition, Marie Rennard teaches the
history of aphrodisiacs in the language of love. We close with the
poetry of Claudine Giovannoni & Guido Monte and your letters, with views
from India and Illinois on Peter Byrne's Doing India French, a
perspective on the New Republic vs. Arundati Roy, Michael Barker's
letter that Global Research ignored, and a correction on cycling wages.
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